This invention relates to apparatus for removing organic solvents from textile material with steam.
The wet treatment of textile material, for example washing, dyeing, bleaching or finishing, is being carried out to an increasing extent with organic solvents (such as perchlorethylene, methylene chloride or fluorinated hydrocarbons). Not only in view of the high prices of these solvents, but also in the interests of pollution control, the solvents have to be recovered as completely as possible from the textile material after their use.
It is known that such "drying" of the textile material, i.e. the removal of the solvents from the textile material, can be carried out by means of hot air. The hot air carrying solvents is then passed through condensation apparatus and over active carbon in order to recover the solvents.
If, after removal of the solvents, the textile material is intended or allowed to exhibit a certain residual water content, removal of the solvents from the textile material may even be carried out with steam. In such a known process (cf. German Patent Specification as laid open No. 1,610,989), the textile material is exposed in a treatment chamber to the action of hot steam, as a result of which the organic solvents are vaporised. To this end, in one known apparatus, the solvent-containing textile material is passed through the treatment chamber in one direction whilst the steam is passed through in the opposite direction. A mixture of steam and solvent vapour is formed and is subsequently condensed to recover the organic solvent.
One disadvantage of this known apparatus is the relatively high cost involved in condensing the mixture of steam and solvent vapour.